Practice Areas

MTB Petitions Due by Dec. 12; No Late Filings to be Accepted

Thursday, December 08, 2016

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report

The International Trade Commission has issued a reminder that miscellaneous trade bill petitions seeking import tariff suspensions or reductions must be filed by 5:15 p.m. EDT Dec. 12 and that late filings will not be accepted. MTB petitions (including those revised to address deficiencies) filed on or after Dec. 13 or filed improperly will have to wait until October 2019 for another opportunity to be considered.

The ITC urges filers to submit their petitions as early as possible for two reasons.

- The Commission’s MTB web portal will only accept completed petitions and will not accept petitions after the deadline, meaning filers need to begin the process well before the deadline.

- The longer filers wait to submit the less likely it is that ITC staff will have enough time to find

any problems in their petitions, and the less time filers will have to file a new petition (the only way to make any needed amendments or corrections), before the deadline, particularly if there is a surge in the number of petitions filed late in the filing period. The ITC notes that many of the petitions filed to date have contained article descriptions that are deficient and that U.S. Customs and Border Protection may not be able to administer.

If you have already submitted an MTB petition, we recommend an immediate review prior to the Dec. 12 deadline.

For assistance in crafting or reviewing an MTB petition to meet required standards, please contact Larry Ordet at (305) 894-1003 or David Olave at (202) 730-4960.